


Junior Year

by lk_sidestep



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Brotp, Eye Sex, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-04
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-11-28 04:44:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/670411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lk_sidestep/pseuds/lk_sidestep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire has Enjolras for AP US Government. The thing is, he's never really spoken to the kid but that doesn't stop him from staring. That is until Enjolras catches him. Grantaire knows this is going to be a long year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day

Grantaire woke up to his phone vibrating on the desk next to his bed. He knew what day it was – the first day of junior year. And yet, even when he checked the time on his phone – 7:42 AM – he still felt no rush to move. 

The text was from Eponine, no surprise really, she was Grantaire’s only real friend in the entire world. Grantaire finally stirred when he heard something strike against his window. He hesitated for a second but finally decided on the right course of action. 

Throwing open the curtains he looked down to see Eponine bent forward looking for another rock on the ground. Grantaire opened the window yelling down to her, “give me 10 minutes!”

“Let me in, you bitch,” she yelled back. At this Grantaire rolled his eyes and headed downstairs to open the door. Eponine walked in and bluntly stated, “you’ve got ten minutes.” Grantaire smiled, “good morning to you too, Ep.” 

The walk to school was so familiar for the both of them. Since the seventh grade, when Grantaire first moved into the neighborhood, Grantaire and Eponine had been best friends. He knew everything about the girl, and she knew mostly everything about him. Today – as had happened countless mornings before and would happen countless mornings after – Eponine was talking about Marius Pontmercy, the boy she’d been in love with since she was 5 years old. Grantaire had perfected his responses over the years, giving Eponine just enough to make her believe he was actually paying attention to her ramblings. 

They got to school 3 minutes early, and headed to their first class: AP US Government. After two years of mismatched school schedules, Eponine and Grantaire had finally cheated the system and gotten 3 out of their 4 fall semester classes together. Eponine led the way into the classroom and took the obvious seat next to Marius. Grantaire took the seat in front of her and tried not to pay attention to the conversation behind him. 

Grantaire surveyed his surroundings, his eyes quickly focusing on the boy sitting two rows away. He was one of Marius’ friends, Enjolras. He was only mildly acquainted to the boy with the golden curls and the nicely shaped jaw line. Whenever Marius invited Eponine to hang out with him and his friends, it usually meant that Grantaire had to tag along to keep Eponine company. Grantaire only agreed to go because he knew the boy with the passionate ideals would be there too. And yet, Grantaire, had never spoken more than 3 words to the kid in his life. Perhaps this year would be different, he hoped. 

Grantaire was still staring when Enjolras turned to face him, giving him a puzzled look that made Grantaire conscious of what he was doing. He quickly looked away from the blue eyes staring directly into his and realized that the teacher had been calling his name. 

“Here,” Grantaire quickly responded, he could feel his face getting warm and knew that he was turning red. Some of the students in the class began to laugh, including Eponine, who had kicked his chair. There was a knock on the door and Grantaire was relieved when the class’ attention was diverted. He gave a side glance towards the direction of Enjolras; thankfully, the boy was also preoccupied with who was at the door.

Principal Valjean walked in with a girl that Grantaire had never seen before. She had beautiful blonde hair that fell in waves past her shoulder blades, and her eyes were a sort of blue that rivaled even Enjolras’, Grantaire thought. She obviously attracted the attention of every 16 year old boy in the class besides Grantaire. He turned to his side to look at the boys whispering amongst themselves and saw that Marius was staring at the girl very intently. He wondered if that’s how he looked whenever he stared at Enjolras. Then he remembered Eponine, and turned back to look at her. She rolled her eyes. 

The girl introduced herself as Cosette and took a seat in the front. The Government teacher, Mr. Javert, then asked, “seeing as this is Cosette’s first day here, I wanted to ask if anyone would volunteer helping her get to her next class…safely?” Javert chuckled to himself at that final word. Grantaire noticed that Marius’ hand quickly shot up. “Very well, Mr. Pontmercy…and like I said, please get her to her class in a safe and responsible manner” Javert continued, and most of the class, including Grantaire this time, laughed. 

Cosette turned around and gave a small smile in the direction of Marius. The boy sitting behind Marius gave him a pat on the back and Grantaire could hear words of encouragement whispered to the love stricken boy. He also heard Eponine groan.

Grantaire turned to look at Enjolras one final time, he promised himself. Except this time, when he did, the two locked eyes for a second, which in Grantaire’s mind lasted an eternity, before the boy with golden locks quickly turned his face to the front of the class. Had the boy actually been staring at him, Grantaire wondered. Enjolras didn’t turn his way again for the remainder of the class. 

The rest of AP US Government was boring, except for whenever Enjolras’ raised his hand to answer questions. That’s when Grantaire would look up from his doodling to listen to what the boy had to say. Grantaire always loved having Enjolras for a class, because even if Enjolras never directly spoke to him, Grantaire would at least have the pleasure of hearing the boy speak, and always with the kind of passion that Grantaire lacked for anything. Anything that is, except Enjolras. 

Finally the bell rang and Mr. Javert dismissed the class. Grantaire joined Eponine outside of the classroom. She was looking at Marius and Cosette together. Cosette was smiling and touching her hair. When the two finally left, walking down the hall together, Eponine turned to look at Grantaire commanding him with a simple, “let’s go.” She looked miserable. 

Grantaire felt bad for Eponine, but before he turned to leave, he glanced over in the direction of Enjolras and his friends, who were making a spectacle in the hallway. Once again, both boys’ eyes locked for a brief moment, until Enjolras was literally pushed down the hall by the rest of his friends. 

He kept staring in that direction until Enjolras was no longer visible, now covered by the throng of other students navigating their way to class. He quickened his pace to join up with Eponine and nudged her in the shoulder. He didn’t like seeing Eponine this way. He got a hard punch in the shoulder for his troubles and then felt relieved when she shot a smile and faint laugh at him. Grantaire put his arm around her and the two headed to their next class together.


	2. Courfeyrac's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Courfeyrac's birthday and Eponine and Grantaire are both invited. Yacht party!

“Hey Marius, what about that girl that you talk to – doesn’t she have any other girl friends?” Courfeyrac looked at Marius, hope evident in his eyes. Marius, with an apologetic tone, answered his friend, “I don’t think so, the only person I ever see her with is that guy. I forget his name, um –” 

“Grantaire,” answered Enjolras, surprising even himself with the response. The other boys turned to him, and he quickly continued, “I think his name is Grantaire or something.” 

“That sucks. Well invite them, I guess. The more the merrier,” said Courfeyrac. His 17th birthday extravaganza was looking like a lost cause without any girls among the invitees. How pathetic were they that they couldn’t think of anymore. 

“Wait, what about that new girl? She has to have other friends!” Courfeyrac, hope seemingly returned, asked Marius. “Um, well the thing is, I barely really know her and like I don’t know if she’d be able to, I think her dad’s real anal and stuff” Marius, again, answered like an apology. “I fucking give up,” groaned Courfeyrac. 

The day of Courfeyrac’s birthday finally arrived, and Enjolras was personally looking forward to not having to listen to Courfeyrac talk about how epic it’d be, ever again.

Combeferre gave Enjolras a ride to the dinner. Enjolras was thankful that at least he’d have his best friend with him. The two soon began debating the merits of the US political system, and Enjolras felt more relaxed with every new point he made. There was a break in the argument when they arrived at the restaurant, but they resumed once the waiter took down their drinks and orders. 

The argument took another break when Eponine and Grantaire arrived. 

Enjolras looked up to meet the pair of blue eyes staring at him. Damn it. Not this again, he thought. Enjolras didn’t understand why this kid was always staring at him, and he definitely didn’t understand why he kind of liked it. He looked the boy over. His jet black curls were bursting out of one of the stupid hats the kid always wore. His skin was pale, but not the sickly kind, the kind that Enjolras thought made him look like a model. He wore a short sleeved green shirt, with a grey cardigan, and dark blue jeans that fit his slender physique quite nicely. Crap. Did Enjolras really just check Grantaire out? He shifted his eyes towards Courfeyrac, who stood up to greet the pair. 

“Hey! Welcome, welcome!” said Courfeyrac, in a voice that made him sound like a carnival greeter. Both Eponine and Grantaire gave him their birthday wishes, and then Courfeyrac took Eponine and sat her between himself and Marius. Courfeyrac would sit the only girl at the dinner next to him, Enjolras thought. That move, however, left Grantaire to awkwardly take the empty seat next to Combeferre. Had he ever been this close to Grantaire before, Enjolras wondered? He swallowed hard when he realized that he liked the way the boy smelled. Fuck. What was wrong with him?

Combeferre and Enjolras picked up the debate they’d been having since the ride over. By its end, however, Enjolras and Combeferre, as usual, had reached an agreement. It was then that Grantaire let out a laugh that had both Combeferre and Enjolras looking at him. Grantaire looked back at them, uncertainty in his eyes. Enjolras broke the silence, “what was so funny?” Grantaire was stunned. Enjolras had not only acknowledged his presence, but had actually directed words at him. 

“It’s just you guys talk as if everything you’re hoping for will actually happen. I mean, come on, it’s 2013 and gays still can’t get married, there hasn’t been a woman president, the rich are getting richer and Madonna is still making music,” Grantaire hoped that last part would help relieve the tension. It was only partly successful, when Combeferre smiled. However, Enjolras remained firm in his gaze. 

“I know that it might seem like some things will never happen, but that’s why you always have to have hope. You can’t look at a cause and just give up because it seems impossible. If people did that, do you think the American, the French or even, the Russian Revolutions would have ever taken place? What about the Civil Rights movement?” 

Grantaire doesn’t know how to react. He got Enjolras impassioned; he had managed to do that himself, but now what? He didn’t want to anger the boy any further or get on his bad side, so he responded, as relaxed as he could, “I guess I’m just a cynic.” 

Enjolras didn’t remove his gaze, but thankfully for Grantaire, Marius interrupted all the conversations taking place.

“Guys! I just texted Cosette and she said that she’s at her friend’s yacht party and just invited us!” Enjolras finally shifted his eyes back to Combeferre when Grantaire turned away to look at Eponine. “Do you want to go,” asked Combeferre. Enjolras thought it over for a second, and after hearing that Grantaire and Eponine would both be going, nodded his head. 

“That guy Grantaire seems pretty cool, huh?” said, Combeferre, breaking the silence that had developed on the ride to the new party. “What,” Enjolras’ responded. “Come on, dude. He seems like a funny guy. Maybe we should ask him if he wants to hang out sometime,” continued Combeferre. It took Enjolras a while to answer, “yeah, I guess. Sure.” 

The yacht party was definitely something new for Enjolras and the group of friends he had. For one, there were beautiful girls everywhere, many of them many years older and wearing dresses that hugged their figures and exposed much of their long legs. Furthermore, there was actual alcohol being served in glasses on trays by guys in tuxedos. Marius quickly ditched the group when he saw Cosette. She looked beautiful and even at 16, she looked just as sophisticated as some of the 20 something year olds in the crowd of people dancing and talking. Courfeyrac took Eponine towards the dance floor, leaving Grantaire with the rest of the group, consisting of Enjolras, Combeferre, Joly, Jehan, Feuilly, Bahorel and Lesgles. The eight boys remained awkwardly by the entrance of the boat. 

Finally, Grantaire moved towards one of the men holding a tray and took a glass. Courfeyrac and Eponine returned from the dance floor, with Eponine heading over towards Grantaire, while Courfeyrac scolded his friends, telling them to socialize and mingle with the girls. When he didn’t get the response he wanted, Courfeyrac walked over to Eponine and Grantaire and they took a shot together.

Eponine grabbed Grantaire and the two sauntered into the dance floor, while Courfeyrac danced against a girl that none of them knew. At first, she seemed put off, but eventually, Courfeyrac managed to charm even her. She eased into him, and the two danced together. 

“Can you believe that” asked Combeferre, motioning towards what had just taken place between Courfeyrac and the unknown woman. But Enjolras was staring at something else. 

Since Grantaire and Eponine had first started dancing, that’s all Enjolras could focus on. He watched as Grantaire grinded against Eponine and how easy he made it look. He noticed how Grantaire’s hair had settled closer onto his head, from the sweat and how the tip of his tongue kept coming out of his smile – a smile that Enjolras thought was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. Finally, Enjolras answered his friend, “no, I really can’t.” He wasn’t exactly sure what it was he couldn’t believe. 

One by one the seven boys made their way to the dance floor, until finally, only Enjolras was left standing by himself against the boat’s door. Combeferre had tried to stay at Enjolras’ side, but he did not permit himself to deprive his friend of having fun. At least one of them should enjoy themselves. He looked into the crowd of sweaty bodies. Grantaire had proven a hit among his friends, he had taken 6 shots with Courfeyrac, who was now nowhere to be found, and had set up many of the guys with dance partners. Enjolras wasn’t sure how he felt about all that. 

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone speaking to him. The voice made him flinch. It was Grantaire. 

“Don’t you ever have some fun, Apollo?” 

“What did you just call me?” asked a bewildered Enjolras. He knew who Apollo was, but he wanted to confirm that Grantaire had actually just called him the Greek god of sun. 

“Apollo, you know, like the god. You look like him. Like a god, you are a god. Apollo!” Grantaire said, inching closer. This time, Enjolras didn’t really like the way he smelled. 

“You’re drunk,” he said, stepping back. 

“I…I want to kiss you,” Grantaire, himself, had no idea where this newfound courage was coming from. 

“You’re gay?” Enjolras asked incredulously. He was hoping for a particular answer. 

“What, no! It’s just, uh, I’m sorry.” Grantaire felt his face redden. This was just like the first day of class all over again. At this point, Combeferre appeared. 

“Yeah, me too,” responded Enjolras, giving Grantaire one final look of disdain before walking away. 

“Shit. Shit.” Grantaire muttered to himself, turning around to discover Combeferre. The boy gave Grantaire a comforting look and placed his hand on his shoulder. “We have to go. We’re getting kicked out.” Grantaire ran into the dance floor to find Eponine. 

Combeferre ran after Enjolras. “Hey, we need to get out of here! That girl that Courfeyrac was dancing with, well this was her party. And her dad found him and her in a closet, and well you know what.” 

“Where is he?” Enjolras was sick of being surprised. 

“I don’t know, but the dad is fucking pissed! We have to go now.” 

The two boys ran to Combeferre’s car. 

The ride back to Enjolras’ house was silent once again. Finally, when Combeferre parked, Enjolras decided to break it. “Did you have fun?” 

“Yeah, all things considered,” responded Combeferre and the two shared a laugh. “What about you?”

“Uh, yeah it was okay I guess,” was all Enjolras would say. Combeferre felt saddened by the response but he decided against telling his friend that he had witnessed the exchange between him and Grantaire. 

Enjolras opened his door, “hey, thanks for the ride. I’ll see you in class.” Combeferre nodded and drove off. 

Later that night, Enjolras was part of a group text that Courfeyrac had set up. He laughed as Courfeyrac recounted exactly what happened after the dad had caught him deflowering his little girl. Apparently, Courfeyrac and Feuilly had both jumped into the harbor, and swam to safety. Courfeyrac was being overly sentimental and thanked the group for an epic birthday, at which point, he singled out Grantaire. When Grantaire responded, Enjolras saved his number into his contacts. He didn’t reply to any of the group texts, not even when Courfeyrac singled him out as well. 

He closed his phone and got into bed. Enjolras looked up at the ceiling, smiling. He found himself agreeing with Courfeyrac. It had been an epic birthday.


	3. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grantaire gets invited to Joly's sleepover. He decides, against his better judgment, to go.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to that,” said Grantaire, without looking up at Eponine’s surprised face. 

“Why not? I thought you liked them and I know they liked you,” Eponine responded.

“I don’t know it seems kind of lame. A bunch of guys spending the night together, I mean, we’re not 5 years old anymore.” Grantaire said, hoping his reasoning seemed believable enough. The truth is, Grantaire really did want to go to Joly’s sleepover that weekend, but he just couldn’t risk seeing Enjolras. Since Courfeyrac’s birthday, Grantaire had tried his best to avoid the boy.

“What would you know; you’ve never had guy friends!” Eponine retorted. 

“Thanks for reminding me, Ep.” Grantaire finally looked up from his tray of food. 

“Well, I mean, I’m just saying. Don’t you get bored with just me? I mean these guys like you and want to hang out with you, just give them a shot,” Eponine tried to sound less offensive this time. 

“How could I get bored with you? You’re the most interesting person in the world!” Grantaire couldn’t even finish that last sentence without breaking into a laugh. Eponine just glared back at him. 

“Whatever, you’re going. I already told Courfeyrac you’d be taking those brownies we made last time,” Eponine finally said. Since Courfeyrac’s birthday, Grantaire had heard Eponine talk about him more and more. It made him happy that she was finally getting over Marius, especially since he was now officially dating Cosette.

The bell rang and Eponine and Grantaire both groaned. This was the worst part of the day; fourth period was the only class they didn’t have together. Eponine walked off towards the gymnasium, while Grantaire debated whether he should skip his Pre Cal class. 

Grantaire didn’t mind the walk to Joly’s house. It wasn’t exactly close to where he lived but he thought walking was the better alternative to getting a ride with Combeferre, who he assumed would also be taking Enjolras. 

In his hands Grantaire carried a tray of brownies that he and Eponine had made the night before. Courfeyrac had specifically requested them, of course with an added ingredient. When Grantaire had texted Courfeyrac that they were ready, the boy told Grantaire that tonight would be just as epic as his birthday had been. Grantaire hoped Joly’s sleepover would not be a repeat of Courfeyrac’s birthday party. 

When Grantaire rounded the corner into the street of Joly’s house, he nearly dropped the tray of brownies. Just a few feet away stood Enjolras. Grantaire panicked. He didn’t know what to do. Luckily for him, Enjolras hadn’t noticed him. Grantaire decided to approach the boy; he would have to talk to him eventually. He might as well get it over with now, with no one else around. 

“Hi,” Grantaire said, his voice a little shaky.

“Jesus,” Enjolras muttered to himself. The boy’s greeting had startled him. He turned around to face Grantaire and gave the boy a smile that he hoped appeared forced. 

Grantaire quickly continued, “I brought brownies,” he said, pushing up the tray. “I’ve never been to a sleepover or whatever, so I brought vodka. Is that okay?” Grantaire then shifted his body to reveal his backpack. 

“I guess. I don’t drink,” Enjolras responded coldly. 

“What. How do you have fun?” Grantaire couldn’t believe it. 

“I guess I don’t,” this time Enjolras didn’t need to act; Grantaire was starting to annoy him. 

“No, I mean, I’m sure you have fun. But like, it wouldn’t hurt to loosen up every now and then, alcohol is good for that,” Grantaire quickly regretted the words that came out of his mouth. 

Enjolras’ raised his eyebrow at that last statement. “Can we just get one thing straight?” Before he could continue, Grantaire cut him off. 

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. Look I know what happened and I’m sorry, I was just, I don’t know. It was a joke! Yeah, I was just messing with you because you’re always so serious and I thought it’d be a laugh,” Grantaire hoped his rambling had convinced Enjolras. 

“Ok, but I’m just going to say it just to be clear. I like girls, I like boobs, I like pussy,” Enjolras was now the one hoping he sounded convincing. 

When Enjolras turned away to ring the door, Grantaire smirked. 

“You getting any pussy?” Grantaire asked. The question caught Enjolras by surprise. 

“I have gotten some,” Enjolras answered, a slight crack in his voice. “I mean, I am Apollo after all,” Enjolras turned to Grantaire, smiling. The two boys shared a laugh. 

“Oh right. How could I forget?” Grantaire finally said, just as Joly opened the door. 

Grantaire didn’t know much about Joly. Then again, he didn’t know much about any of the other boys either. The only things he did know about him, were whatever Courfeyrac had told him. Apparently, Joly’s parents were pretty well off and took frequent weekend trips to God knows where. Somehow Courfeyrac always found out when these took place and organized these sleepovers. The guys would all show up with beer or liquor and get drunk and drive poor Joly mad. Courfeyrac then had the genius idea of using these nights to get Joly completely wasted.

What made the idea genius was the fact that Joly was even more wound up than Enjolras. But no one in the group would ever think of messing with Enjolras. Grantaire recalled Courfeyrac telling him that the first time they got Joly drunk, the poor guy was so scared of going to sleep, asking, “what if I never wake up?” Joly was like that. He had spent all of ninth grade freaking out about recurring headaches, thinking he had a brain tumor. It turned out, Joly just needed glasses. Then it hit Grantaire. The brownies, that’s what they were meant for. Tonight the guys were going to get Joly high.

Joly led Enjolras and Grantaire to a room with a large television, two couches, and a table in the back. Sitting on one of the couches were Marius and Bahorel. On the other was Lesgles. The three were playing video games, and it seemed that Lesgles kept on losing. Grantaire followed Enjolras to the table, where Courfeyrac, Feuilly and Jehan were sitting.

“Where’s Combeferre?” Courfeyrac asked Enjolras. 

“I don’t know if he’s coming. He got stuck babysitting,” Enjolras answered. 

“That sucks,” then Courfeyrac noticed Grantaire with the tray of brownies and his face immediately lit up. “Hey Joly, look what Grantaire made for you!” 

Grantaire quickly responded to Courfeyrac’s lead and removed the lid from the tray and handed it to Joly, who only hesitantly accepted them. Grantaire noticed Enjolras had turned to look at him, confusion written on his face. 

“Thanks,” Joly sounded just as unsure as he looked. 

“C’mon Joly, don’t be rude! Get one, I’m sure Grantaire here spent a long time making them,” Courfeyrac insisted. All of the other boys were now looking at Joly. Finally, he succumbed to the pressure and took a bite of one. 

“Wow, they’re really good,” Joly said, finishing the first brownie. He took another one, at which point, the rest of the boys got up to get some as well. Courfeyrac smiled, while Enjolras leaned into Grantaire, making the other boy uneasy with the sudden closeness. 

“What’s in them,” Enjolras whispered to Grantaire. Grantaire lost himself in the blue of Enjolras’ eyes for a second before responding, “weed, Courfeyrac asked for some.” 

Enjolras shot Grantaire a look that made him weak. Then, Grantaire nearly gasped when Enjolras took a brownie from the tray. He followed his lead and got one as well. 

The only one of the boys who could really keep up with Grantaire when it came to drinking was Courfeyrac, the rest were pathetic lightweights. It didn’t help that the boys had practically inhaled Grantaire’s brownies. By 11:00 PM, Joly had fallen asleep, at which point, Jehan helped the poor kid to his room and tucked him in. 

With Joly asleep, Grantaire thought this meant the end of the night’s entertainment, but he was proven wrong when Marius informed them that Cosette and some of her friends were coming over. It seemed that getting Joly wasted to the point of sleep had been Courfeyrac’s intention all along. 

Grantaire didn’t mind, however. The night had proven to be a success. Drunk Enjolras was the cutest thing Grantaire had ever seen, he thought. Even when intoxicated, Enjolras still argued about philosophy, politics and art with some of the others. He slurred through his points, but Grantaire still loved how passionate he was.

The other great thing about drunk Enjolras was the fact that it made him friendlier than usual. He leaned into Grantaire whenever he’d laugh, and for some reason, every time he talked to him, he’d whisper it right into his ear, something that sent shivers down Grantaire’s spine. When Cosette and her friends arrived, Grantaire and Enjolras were sitting next to each other on the couch, their legs touching, a fact that Grantaire was completely aware of. 

Cosette arrived with 3 other girls, one of them, Grantaire thought looked familiar. Then he remembered her. It was the yacht girl. As Marius led Cosette upstairs to one of the bedrooms, Cosette screamed out to the others, “we brought more bottles! They’re in the kitchen!” 

Grantaire felt a pang of guilt when he saw Courfeyrac lead the yacht girl upstairs as well. What about Eponine, he wondered. He couldn’t think about that for too long, however. Enjolras leaned into Grantaire, whispering into his ear, “let’s go see what drinks they brought” Again, Grantaire got shivers. 

The two headed to the kitchen, while Lesgles, Jehan, Feuilly and Bahorel all descended upon the two remaining girls. Grantaire could hear Jehan reciting poetry to one, and started laughing. 

Enjolras picked up two of the bottles and turned to Grantaire, directly in front of the other boy. 

“So, what’s it going to be, R,” he said. Grantaire loved that he had started calling him that. Enjolras looked down to the bottles, reading, “Smirnoff or Hypnotic.” Enjolras wasn’t sure if he had read that last one correctly.

“Anything,” Grantaire said, looking up into Enjolras’ face, “just give me a fucking, just, just give me a…” Grantaire had to stop talking. He stared into Enjolras’ blue eyes, and the boy looked back at him with a puzzled face. How could someone be that beautiful, Grantaire thought, his gaze now focused on Enjolras’ lips. He licked his own, before swallowing hard.

Grantaire leaned forward, closing his eyes at the last moment before pressing his lips against Enjolras’. The boy kissed back, but Grantaire quickly pulled away a second later.

“Oh,” said Enjolras, opening his eyes to look at the boy whose gaze was fixed on his. Finally, he continued, “it’s only the alcohol, right?” Grantaire nodded his head, as if hoping to convince himself. This made Enjolras smile. He leaned in and Grantaire followed his lead.

They kissed more fully this time, moving their heads around one another, and taking small breaks in between. Grantaire licked his lips after one of the short kisses. None got deeper than just lips, but by the time both boys were finished they had their foreheads pressed against one another, both breathing heavily.

“Woah,” muttered Enjolras finally. He moved his head away from Grantaire’s.

The other boy spoke up, “you liked that.”

Enjolras bit his lip as Grantaire kept an intense gaze fixed upon him. After recovering enough to confidently say it, Enjolras responded, “you’re gay.” He pointed at Grantaire while he said it. Enjolras smiled one last time before walking off.

“Yes,” muttered Grantaire, once sure that Enjolras had left the room. He followed the boy, who led him to Joly’s backyard.

The boys jumped on Joly’s trampoline, pushing one another and laughing. Enjolras finally collapsed, with a bottle in hand. He took a sip out of it and handed it up to Grantaire. The boy took a sip as well, and then fell to his knees. He straddled Enjolras and leaned down and kissed him again. Enjolras put his arms around Grantaire’s waist.

When they finished kissing, and were just lying next to each other on the trampoline, Enjolras declared, “you were right. I do like it.”

Grantaire smiled, looking up at the night sky. When he turned to look at Enjolras, however, the boy had already fallen asleep. He laughed to himself and fell asleep as well.

When Grantaire finally woke up, the sun was shining directly into his eyes. He shielded himself with his arm, before realizing that he had a horrible headache. He turned and also realized he was the only one on the trampoline. Grantaire checked his phone, it was 2:00 PM. He also had a text message from Enjolras.

_I dont remember anything from last night and I have a terrible headache_

Grantaire rolled his eyes at the message before texting back:

_Yeah, same here_

He knew Enjolras was full of shit.

The next morning, on the walk to school, Eponine told Grantaire about her weekend, and how on Sunday, Courfeyrac had picked her up and the two had gone to a movie and made out the whole time. Grantaire tried to sound enthusiastic for his friend, but couldn’t help but feel guilty knowing just what Courfeyrac had been doing – or better yet, who he’d been doing – the previous night.

In government class, Grantaire tried his best to avoid looking at the direction of Enjolras, he even refrained from looking up whenever the boy answered any questions. He had decided to get over Apollo. Enjolras was too scared to be honest with himself.

As Grantaire and Eponine walked out of class, someone called out to him. He froze, realizing who it was.

“Hey,” Enjolras called out. Grantaire and Eponine both turned around to face him.

Enjolras pulled up his backpack, taking out one of Grantaire’s hats. “Here, I picked it up when I left Joly’s. I’m pretty sure it’s yours,” Enjolras handed the beanie to the boy.

“Thanks,” was all Grantaire could mutter. Enjolras smiled at him, and Grantaire hated him for it.

“Okay, well I’ll see you guys later,” Enjolras finally said, before walking away, down the opposite direction.

Eponine just shrugged and kept on walking, while Grantaire waited a few more moments before joining her. Damn it, he thought, the kid wasn’t going to make getting over him easy at all, was he?


	4. Student Body President Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjolras decides to run for student body president even though his friends are being idiots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK well I'm sorry I hadn't updated in such a long time but like I got sick a couple of weeks ago and then school came and slapped me across the face but I'm back! Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter since I kinda just did it quickly to update but I promise I'll be updating more frequently now, I plan to finish the next couple of chapters today so I can post them throughout the week. 
> 
> Um, last time someone brought up the fact that I took some inspiration from Naomily and I just wanted to let you guys know that my fic is based pretty heavily off of that storyline. I thought Naomi and Emily reminded me a lot of Enjolras and Grantaire and so I decided to model this fic on them. Please don't crucify me. I know this chapter is very *heavily* derived from Naomi's episode but I promise that as the story progresses it will diverge a lot more! And, if you guys don't know who or what Naomily is, I recommend you guys check out their story. It's part of Generation 2 of Skins and in my opinion it's the best relationship the show ever did (well at least season 3). So yeah. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it and like I said, I apologize if its kinda sucky I wrote it in a bit of a hurry. Oh yeah, also, thanks everyone for the feedback! You guys make writing this so much fun :))))
> 
> If (when) you guys find grammatical errors please let me know! Thanks again and enjoy your weekend guys!

Enjolras woke up to a weight pressed over him. He opened his eyes to find his little sister sitting on his stomach. He quickly grabbed and flipped her over, pinning her down on the bed and tickling her. 

“Patria, get over here,” screamed Enjolras’ stepfather from the doorway. Enjolras rolled his eyes at his presence. He took the little girl away, without even acknowledging his stepson’s existence.

“Bye, Enjolras!” Enjolras heard Patria shout from downstairs before the front door slammed shut. 

Enjolras rolled over to check his phone and saw that he had a text from Combeferre.

_Hey we’re meeting in the cafeteria before class. You’re not going to like this_

“What the fuck, you assholes,” Enjolras couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Look, Enjolras don’t be mad. I mean what do you want me to do? She is my girlfriend,” Marius tried to reason. 

Enjolras ignored his friend and turned to the others, “and you all? What’s your excuse?” 

None of the other boys dared look Enjolras in the face, until finally Courfeyrac spoke up. 

“Dude, Cosette has hot friends. We can’t get on her bad side,” Courfeyrac hoped his reasoning would work better than Marius’ had.

“Unbelievable. You all are fucking unbelievable,” Enjolras finally said before walking off. Combeferre followed after him. 

“What are you going to do?” Combeferre asked Enjolras, the other boy finally stopping to answer him. 

“I guess I’m not going to run, what’s the point.” Combeferre gave him a pat on the shoulder and a small smile, as the bell rang. 

“C’mon, we don’t to be late,” Combeferre said as the two boys headed to their first class. 

In government, Mr. Javert discussed the upcoming school election. Cosette was running against Montparnasse, one of the most unpopular kids in school. A real creep, Enjolras thought. Basically, Cosette had the election in the bag, especially now that he was officially out of the race. Those traitors, he thought, before turning over to look to his left, sensing someone staring at him. Of course, it was Grantaire. Enjolras was definitely not in the mood for this today. 

As Enjolras walked out of the class, he heard someone call his name, but knowing whose voice it was, he hesitated a moment before turning around. 

“Hey,” Grantaire called out, quickening his pace to catch up to Enjolras. 

“What’s up,” Enjolras said dryly. 

“Why aren’t you running for president?” Enjolras looked up to the ceiling before he began walking, Grantaire following along. 

“Because my friends are assholes, that’s why,” Enjolras finally said. 

“Well, you should still run. You really care about this stuff,” Grantaire was still following Enjolras. 

“What stuff?” Enjolras was hoping the boy would just leave him alone.

“Um, equality, environmentalism, feminism, you know all that lame stuff,” Grantaire responded, hoping Enjolras would appreciate his wit.

“Great. I’m lame, thanks for that,” Enjolras finally stopped and turned to look at the other boy. 

“Oh come on, you know about politics. You’re always talking about it,” Grantaire offered, hoping to mend the other boy’s apparently bruised ego.

Enjolras sighed and tilted his head, before continuing, “Grantaire, we’ve had about three conversations our whole life, so for you to say that I’m always talking about anything is pretty ridiculous.” 

Grantaire looked down, before responding. “Right,” he said and turned to go. Enjolras felt guilty for having been so cruel to the boy, but he couldn’t think about it for too long before Courfeyrac showed up.

“Aw, are the lovebirds fighting?” Enjolras was mortified. 

“What?” Enjolras tried to play it cool. 

“You know that night at Joly’s, I was so fucking hammered I thought I imagined you and Grantaire making out on the trampoline,” Courfeyrac was smiling. 

Enjolras wasn’t sure how to react, but before he could say anything, Courfeyrac continued. 

“Look, I just came to see that you weren’t still mad, okay? And Marius wanted me to ask if you could help with the campaign.”

“Fuck off,” Enjolras retorted and made to leave, before Courfeyrac grabbed his arm. 

“Cosette really likes you, and she has a ton of hot friends, I’m sure some of them might like you too. I mean, if you like girls that is…” Courfeyrac was smiling again. 

Enjolras glared at the boy before Courfeyrac continued, “I’m just messing with you dude, of course you like girls. Okay, well we’re meeting tonight at Marius’ to plan this shit, I’ll see you there.” He gave Enjolras a pat on the shoulder before walking off down the hall. 

Once the school day was over, Enjolras headed to Mr. Javert’s class and picked up an application form. He was going to run for president even if his friends weren’t going to help him. 

When Enjolras got home, his sister Patria was there to greet him. 

“Enjolras!” She exclaimed as soon as he walked inside. The boy smiled, picking the girl up and giving her a kiss on the forehead. 

“Where were you?” His stepfather got up from his chair. Enjolras put his sister down, grabbed his backpack and headed up the stairs, before calling out, “school, where else?”

“You got out over half an hour ago, where were you?” The man continued. 

“I was busy,” he reached his door and slammed it shut. What a shitty day, he thought. Once in his room, he looked up and saw Grantaire sitting on his bed. He sighed, of course.

“How did you get in here?” Enjolras realized how terrible that sounded as soon as he said it. 

“Your little sister, I think, she let me in,” Grantaire offered. 

“Right. What do you want?” Enjolras walked over to his dresser, leaning against it, with his arms crossed. 

“I came to give you this,” Grantaire, placed the student president application on his bed. 

“You’re very annoying,” Enjolras responded, arms still crossed.

“Yeah, well you seem to inspire it in me,” Grantaire retorted. 

“Jinx,” Enjolras said as he placed the application he had next to Grantaire’s. 

“Cool, so you’re going to run. I’ll help with the form,” Grantaire stood up from the bed. 

“No, Grantaire. I don’t need any help,” Enjolras answered him. He had crossed his arms again. 

“Right, well okay. See you,” Grantaire grabbed his backpack and headed out of the room. 

Enjolras placed his own backpack on the ground. Great, he thought, now I feel like an asshole. Just then his door flung open and Grantaire barged in. 

“Just so you know my first thought when I see you, is not ‘I want to fuck that boy’,” Grantaire spoke aggressively. 

Enjolras was taken aback before responding, “no I…”

“We kissed at Joly’s. It was nice but it was also nice just being with you, when you’re not being a prick that is,” Grantaire had calmed down significantly by this point.

“Thanks,” Enjolras finally responded. 

“I only think you should run for president because I think you’d be good at it. That’s all, okay?” Grantaire stared at Enjolras, waiting for the other boy to respond. 

Enjolras looked at the shorter boy before turning away. “Okay and you should…stay,” Enjolras motioned with his hand. 

“I will,” Grantaire closed the door behind him. 

“I can just see it now, in lights. Follow. The great Apollo,” Grantaire laughed. 

“I mean, it’s pretty catchy,” Enjolras tried to offer but he too couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Yeah, well so is AIDS,” Grantaire responded. Enjolras couldn’t believe the things Grantaire said. The afternoon had surprisingly turned out to be a lot better than the rest of the day had been, Enjolras thought.

“You really think I can win?” Enjolras said, turning to look at the other boy. 

“I think you can do anything,” Grantaire replied, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Really?” Enjolras asked, making it sound more like a statement than a question. He turned to his side, resting his weight on his elbow and Grantaire did the same. Enjolras continued, “so I’ve been wondering, what do gay guys do?” He let out a laugh and Grantaire did the same before taking a swig from the bottle of alcohol he had brought over.

“I mean in bed,” Enjolras continued, wondering if Grantaire had understood him.

“I know what you mean! What would I know?” Grantaire responded, staring at Enjolras.

“…you’ve never?” Enjolras asked. 

“No I’ve never!” Grantaire was laughing again. Enjolras grabbed the bottle from him and took a sip. 

“Doesn’t it hurt? I mean, I bet it would hurt,” Enjolras finally said after giving the bottle back to Grantaire. 

“No! I don’t know. I don’t think it’s supposed to hurt. Plus you use lube and stuff,” Grantaire responded. They both looked at each other after that last statement and laughed. 

“Lube, huh?” Enjolras was trying not to laugh. 

“Yeah, and stuff,” Grantaire couldn’t stop himself and started laughing. The two boys stared at each other before Enjolras smiled and laid back down on the floor. Grantaire did the same. 

“Lube,” Enjolras finally said, smiling at the ceiling. 

“Yeah, lots of it,” Grantaire continued, smiling as well. 

The two continued that way for the rest of the night until they finished the small bottle Grantaire had brought.

Enjolras woke up, his head aching. He realized he was holding an empty bottle in his hands and rolled his eyes. He turned over, finding another body on his bed. It was Grantaire. The boy was turned away from him and wasn’t wearing a shirt. Enjolras stared at his bony shoulders and the paleness of the other boy’s skin before reaching forward to touch the messy black curls on his head. When he realized what he was doing he stopped himself and quickly got out of bed. 

He watched as Grantaire shifted on his bed. They had both slept in only their boxers. What are you doing, he thought to himself before grabbing his clothes and walking out of the room. 

Enjolras met up with Combeferre outside the cafeteria where the two watched Courfeyrac and Marius campaigning for Cosette. The two shook their heads before Enjolras walked off to secure his bike on the bike rack. 

“Hi,” Grantaire called out to Enjolras as he struggled to catch up to the other boy. 

“Hi,” Enjolras responded dryly, barely turning to acknowledge him. 

“You left pretty early,” Grantaire continued. 

“Yeah, I had stuff to do,” Enjolras was still walking his bike. 

“Well I met your step-dad,” Grantaire said. 

“What- what did you tell him?” Enjolras finally stopped, turning to look at the other boy. 

“Nothing, I just said I was a friend of yours and that I had spent the night working on a school project,” Grantaire tried to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, since Enjolras seemed a little unnerved. 

“Grantaire, look…,” before Enjolras had finished the other boy had cut him off. 

“I almost forgot, I made these just in case you ran,” Grantaire pulled out several nicely decorated fliers from his backpack. 

Enjolras looked at the other boy unsure of what his next move should be. 

“I got the message Enjolras, I’ll manage. But, I mean you can’t let those fuckers win, now can you?” Grantaire moved his head, motioning it towards where Marius and Courfeyrac were. 

Enjolras smiled at Grantaire, locked his bike against the rack and walked up to the other boy. “You’re right,” he said, grabbing some of the fliers.

The two posted several around the school and handed several more to prospective voters. During lunch Grantaire held Enjolras’ backpack as the boy with the golden curls climbed up one of the tables to give a speech. 

“Excuse me!” Enjolras immediately got the attention of mostly everyone in the room. “If you vote for me I will make sure that your voices will all be heard. It will be my responsibility to get to know each of you and address any and all grievances you may…” before Enjolras could finish, however, Courfeyrac walked in handing out candy and taking the spotlight away from Enjolras. 

“This is what you’ve got to decide. Do you want a president who will actually listen and try to make a difference or do you want…” again Enjolras was cut off by Courfeyrac. The boy was irate. 

“You’re a fucking joke!” Enjolras yelled down to Courfeyrac, who quickly stopped in his tracks to look up at the other boy.

“I’m not the one standing on a table…” Courfeyrac responded, smiling. The other students began to laugh.

“At least I care about something,” Enjolras responded. He was turning red.

“Enjy, no one here cares about anything. Why don’t you stop wasting your time…” this time Courfeyrac was the one who was interrupted when Grantaire spoke up.

“Courfeyrac, any chance you can go be a cunt over there, you think?” Grantaire’s response received several “ohs” and whistles from the rest of the students. Enjolras was definitely red by this point.

“Aw that’s cute. Getting your boyfriend to hold your hand,” Courfeyrac said. Again, the rest of the students began to laugh.

“Fuck this,” Enjolras muttered under his breath, stepping down from the table. He grabbed his backpack from Grantaire’s hands and walked off. He was so angry he could feel tears forming, but he had to get away from everyone. Enjolras didn’t want anyone to see him cry. 

“Enjolras,” Grantaire called out after him. “Enjolras wait,” Grantaire, grabbed the other boy’s arm to turn him around. 

“Just leave me alone,” Enjolras snapped at the other boy. He turned around and continued walking down the hall. 

Enjolras checked his phone. He had a text from Combeferre who wanted to meet him in the school parking lot. 

When he got there Combeferre gave him a small smile. 

“I fucking hate him,” Enjolras began. 

“Yeah…about that. I think its best if you just drop out, dude. Look I mean I like Grantaire, he’s a cool guy but maybe you should just cool it, no?” Combeferre tried to sound as nice as he possibly could, given what he was instructing his best friend to do. 

“What the fuck,” Enjolras said. “Fuck all of you, honestly,” Enjolras headed for his bike. He needed to get out of here.

He ran up the stairs to his room, and slammed his door shut. He undid his covers and discovered a piece of paper on the bed. It had a smile on it with _Grantaire slept here_ written directly above it. Enjolras crumbled the piece of paper, uttering, “fuck off!” before throwing it off the bed. He sat in bed for several minutes, trying to calm down before he reached over and grabbed the note off the floor. He suddenly felt really tired and dosed off. 

When Enjolras finally woke up several hours later, he realized the piece of paper had ended up wedged between the pillow and his face. He got out of bed, heading to the mirror in his room. Grantaire’s name had been tattooed on his right cheek. He started rubbing at his cheek to get the mark off before he stopped and grabbed his phone and made a call. 

“Can we go somewhere,” Enjolras said as soon as the person on the other line had picked up. There was a pause before Enjolras spoke again, “anywhere.”


	5. Student Body President Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Grantaire takes Enjolras to his favorite place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here's the newest update, as usual, if you guys see any mistakes please let me know! I hope you like it, also please be gentle, I've never written something like this before. And um yeah, enjoy!

Grantaire hung up the phone and quickly texted Eponine, cancelling their plans for the evening. He wasn’t sure what had happened to Enjolras between his outburst at school and now but Grantaire wasn’t going to question it. He got ready and headed out the door, grabbing his bike from the garage.

He got to Enjolras’ house and rang the doorbell. The same little girl that had let him in the previous day answered the door. Grantaire smiled at her, but before she could say anything, Enjolras moved her aside. He yelled out that he was leaving and shut the door behind him. Grantaire heard the little girl call out Enjolras’ name in protest. 

“So where are we going?” Enjolras asked as he grabbed his bike. 

“Just follow me,” Grantaire answered him, climbing his own bike and riding it down the other boy’s driveway.

The two rode in silence for a while until Enjolras sped up deliberately to cut right in front of Grantaire. The boy took it as a challenge and the two began racing. When Grantaire almost caught up to the other boy, Enjolras kicked at his bike, causing him to swerve off to the right and fall. Enjolras’ stopped to help Grantaire back up. 

“Where are we going? Are you taking me into the woods to kill me, R?” Enjolras asked as the other boy dusted his shorts off. 

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Grantaire responded before adding, “c’mon we’re almost there.” He got back on his bike but not before kicking the other boy’s bike and causing it to fall over. He turned around to give Enjolras a face of pure satisfaction. Enjolras smirked at this, picked his bike up and followed Grantaire. The two rode side by side until they reached their destination. 

When they got there, Grantaire dropped his bike on the side of the dirt path they had been riding for the past half hour and ran up a small hill, entering into the heavily wooded area. “Hurry up!” Enjolras heard him call out. He laughed at the other boy’s enthusiasm. 

After placing his bike next to Grantaire’s he walked up the hill and nearly gasped when he reached the crest and looked down below to the side that had been hidden from view. Tucked away behind the foliage and ridge was a small lake. Enjolras couldn’t believe that they lived so close to something so absolutely breathtaking. Grantaire’s lithe form standing on the shoreline made it all the more stunning, Enjolras thought. 

He walked over to the other boy, declaring, “beautiful. It’s a beautiful place.” 

Grantaire seemed to take the other boy’s statement as a personal compliment. He was proud of himself for knowing that this particular spot even existed. “It’s one of my favorites,” he finally answered, turning to the other boy and smiling. He continued looking at him, openly admiring the other boy’s awestruck face. The lake was beautiful, Grantaire thought, but Enjolras really was something else. 

When his eyes had had enough he walked a few steps back and put his backpack down, and took off the knitted hat he had been wearing before doing the same with his shirt.

At this, Enjolras turned to look at the smaller boy before saying, “I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”

“Neither did I,” Grantaire answered him, smiling before continuing with his shorts. 

Enjolras raised his eyebrows before his eyes gave the other boy a full look over. When he finally looked back up, Grantaire’s eyes met his. He could see a blush creep on the other boy’s face. 

“Sun won’t shine forever,” Grantaire declared as he placed his clothes neatly in a pile atop his backpack. 

“Someone could be looking!” Enjolras wasn’t sure why he was protesting this exactly. 

“Honey, your body ain’t that special,” Grantaire said, in a mocking tone as he rid himself of his shoes and socks. 

To this last statement, Enjolras finally acquiesced but not before handing the other boy one final sign of protest by commanding him with a, “don’t look, ok.” 

“Ok,” Grantaire said, turning around to give Enjolras the privacy he wanted. Of course that only lasted a few seconds before he turned back around to look over the other boy.

Grantaire had lied. Enjolras’ body was special. The taller boy was lean but muscular. His skin shone in the sun, making it appear gold and Grantaire remembered why he had called him Apollo all those months ago. He eyed the boy’s well defined back, but finally willed himself away, remembering that only his boxer’s thin fabric shielded his desires.

Enjolras turned around crossing his arms in the same manner that Grantaire was. The two, both now down to their boxers, began to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. He walked over to the boy, shoving him. 

“I said don’t look,” he reminded the other boy, but his tone was friendly. 

“I wasn’t looking!” Grantaire declared as he shoved the other boy back. 

“You were looking!” Enjolras shoved harder this time. 

“Not on purpose!” Grantaire shoved back. 

“Yes you were!” This time, Enjolras pushed Grantaire into the water. 

When Grantaire finally bobbed his head back up out of the water he shouted at the other boy to jump in and Enjolras did just that. 

The two spent a couple of hours in the lake. At first they remained separate, in their own clearly defined spaces in the water. Enjolras was the one who broke this arrangement, sneaking up on Grantaire and dunking his head into the water. Grantaire resurfaced, splashing Enjolras with water. By the time the rain started falling, neither boy wanted to get out. 

They set up a blanket that Grantaire had brought underneath a tree and started a small fire. The two enjoyed each other’s silence, as Enjolras worked on the fire and Grantaire rolled the joint he had. When the fire was ready, Enjolras took a sip out of the bottle that Grantaire had brought – he really thought of everything didn’t he – and turned to look at the other boy, who was now lighting the joint. 

“You alright, R?” He asked, as he tossed a small branch into the flames. 

Grantaire turned to him, joint in his mouth, his lips turning into a smile before he turned away and continued lighting it.

“Hello,” Enjolras said, waving his hand in Grantaire’s face to get his attention. When the boy turned to look at him again, he continued, “deaf or what?”

“You know that’s the first time you’ve asked me how I’m feeling,” Grantaire finally said. 

“What, today?” Enjolras responded.

“Ever,” Grantaire said, almost smugly. 

“So,” Enjolras shrugged his shoulders before continuing, “you alright?”

“No,” Grantaire finally said, “I’m having the worst time of my life. The weather is shit and the company is even worse.” 

Enjolras smiled at the other boy’s response before adding an, “amen.”

“It’s nice. Peaceful,” Grantaire said a few moments later, grabbing a small stick nearby and stoking the flames with it. 

“Yeah,” Enjolras agreed.

When Grantaire was done with the fire, he moved his hand over Enjolras’. At first he merely brushed over it, but when the other boy didn’t react negatively, Grantaire placed his on top more firmly. He rubbed the other boy’s hand, thumb brushing over the knuckles, before intertwining their fingers together. Enjolras looked down at their hands joined together and smiled. 

“Do you want to do blowbacks?” Grantaire finally broke the comfortable silence that had developed over the two boys.

“I never understood blowbacks, why can’t people just smoke the damn thing straight,” Enjolras retorted. 

“It’s fun! Have you even tried it?” Grantaire followed back.

“No, but, being all-seeing I already know it’s shit,” this time Enjolras was the one talking smugly. 

Grantaire smiled at this last statement before adding, “come on, everything once.”

“Oh, fuck it. Go ahead and disappoint me,” Enjolras finally said, positioning himself directly in front of the other boy. 

Enjolras watched as Grantaire reignited the joint, taking one final hit before placing the burning side of it into his mouth. Suddenly, Grantaire’s hands were on his, bringing them up towards his face. Enjolras cupped his hands around the other boy’s face, while Grantaire placed his own hands around Enjolras’ neck. Enjolras sucked in at the end of the joint, while Grantaire blew into the other side. Both boys’ eyes never left the other’s gaze.

When they finally pulled away, Grantaire put the joint on the floor, letting a puff of smoke escape his mouth. He turned up to see Enjolras looking at him with intent.

Enjolras was regarding Grantaire with amazement. He noticed the other boy’s curls were still damp from the swim earlier and the slight flush on his cheeks. Grantaire’s mouth was slightly open, as if wanting to speak. His blue eyes shone with trust and fear, their intense gaze sending a shiver down Enjolras’ spine. The boy was beautiful, he thought, and mine. 

Enjolras leaned forward and kissed him. He started to pull back almost immediately, but thought against it and continued. Grantaire, upon realizing that the other boy was no longer hesitating, kissed back more fully this time. He put his hands around the blonde boy’s neck, the two moving their heads around one another, deepening the kiss each time. Grantaire kissed at the corner of Enjolras’ mouth, before continuing down to his jaw and reaching his neck. 

He bit against Enjolras’ neck, before sucking and licking the same areas over. The blonde boy let out a moan and Grantaire stopped, his hand remaining around the other’s neck, and looked up at him. Enjolras wrapped his hand around Grantaire’s extended arm and the boy with the black curls took that as confirmation to continue. He kissed the same areas, gentler this time, before stopping once again when he noticed the other boy biting his lip. They stared at each other, their faces just inches apart. 

“Say something,” Enjolras finally said, unable to contain the smile forming on the corners of his mouth. 

“I’m all about experiments, me,” Grantaire answered back, breathing out the last word before looking down to Enjolras’ shirt. 

He pulled it up, Enjolras doing his part by lifting his arms up. When he had shed the other boy of his shirt, Grantaire couldn’t avert his gaze from the boy’s exposed torso for a brief moment. When he finally looked up, Enjolras had the same intense look in his eyes. Enjolras leaned towards the other boy, and did the same to him. The other boy, taking his lead, lifted his arms up. Once his shirt was off, he absent-mindedly tried fixing his unruly curls. Enjolras then dove forward, Grantaire reacting just in time to catch the other boy’s mouth with his own. 

He placed his hands back around Enjolras’ neck. Enjolras took control this time and aggressively kissed the other boy, finally parting his lips to meet his tongue with his own. Grantaire used his position to pull Enjolras over him. The blonde boy placed a hand behind the other’s head, his free hand exploring Grantaire’s body, as it traveled down his side, to his boxers. Grantaire moaned into Enjolras’ mouth at the sudden attention his lower body was receiving. The blonde boy’s hand was now running up and down the inside of the smaller boy’s legs. He started yanking at the fabric and that’s when Grantaire pulled away from the kiss. 

“Enjolras,” he said, breathing out the word. He looked up at the boy on top of him.

“What,” Enjolras asked, desperation in his voice. 

“Wait,” Grantaire meekly stated, before reaching over to his backpack. He pulled out two small packets, handing them to the other boy with a, “here.” 

In his hands, Enjolras held a condom and a packet of lubrication, the sight of which brought a small smile to his face. Grantaire really had thought of everything. He then turned to the other boy and regarded his current expression. He could see the effects he’d had on the boy. His hair was even more unkempt than usual, his lips were swollen and red from the kissing and his cheeks were flushed. He could also see the doubt, and hope as well, in his eyes. Fuck, he thought. Why had he taken this long to get Grantaire into this current debauched state? 

He leaned forward, kissing the smaller boy, parting his lips with his tongue to let him know, that yes, he wanted this just as badly.

Grantaire pulled down his boxers during the kiss and Enjolras followed suit. The blonde boy pulled away hesitantly to fix the condom on his cock, while Grantaire took the packet of lube and prepared himself. Enjolras looked down at the boy and the sight of him readying himself for his cock nearly drove him mad and ended things before they even began. He recovered enough and bent forward to kiss him, or better yet, devour his mouth.

Enjolras finally pulled away, to guide his cock inside Grantaire. The other boy looked up at him, this time the only thing in his eyes were trust. Enjolras didn’t know how long he could last with Grantaire laid out under him, looking like he did and looking at him like that.

When Enjolras finally got inside, he quickly realized he wouldn’t last very long no matter what he did. Grantaire was tight, very, very tight. He was also very, very warm. He looked down at the other boy, and the sight didn’t help his predicament at all. The boy had closed his eyes, mouth slightly open and heaving out harsh breaths. What really got him was what the boy was doing. He had started stroking his cock, and Enjolras felt his face flush at the fact that he was getting off _because_ of him. He leaned down and kissed him briefly, before pulling away but keeping his face directly over his. 

The two boys were now fighting a losing battle. Their breaths intermingled with one another, interrupted by brief bouts of kisses. Grantaire was the first to lose. He came crying out the other boy’s name in the process, his body rocking with small spasms. The smaller boy’s violent orgasm and the fact that he suddenly became even tighter – too tight – around Enjolras had a quick and devastating effect on the blonde boy. He pulled out, yanked the condom off as quickly as he could before coming, crying out the other boy’s name as well. 

He plopped down next to the other boy, feeling somewhat ashamed at how embarrassingly short he had lasted but, turning over to look at Grantaire he knew the smaller boy had no complaints. 

“Wow,” he finally said eyes still on the other boy. At this Grantaire laughed, which caused Enjolras to muster what little strength he had left to lean in and kiss him. He then grabbed his boxer, using it to clean himself before handing it over to Grantaire, to use as well. After this the two slept, side by side as the rainfall continued falling around them. 

When Grantaire woke up a few hours later, it was no longer raining and there was no longer someone lying on his side. What. He quickly sat up, running his hands over his curls and looking around for any sign of the other boy. The sound of a bike’s wheels crushing leaves turned his attention upwards to the crest of the hill, where he could see Enjolras walking away with his bike. Grantaire’s face dropped.

“Again,” he called out to the other boy as he made his way up the hill before continuing, “you’re going to do this to me again? Enjolras…no…you fucking…stop right now!”

“What?” Enjolras finally stopped, turning to the other boy, who had finally ascended to the top of the hill. 

“Don’t you dare leave me in your bed again,” Grantaire said, the sting of the words dulled by the hurt in his voice. 

Enjolras looked down at the ground before looking back up to the other boy to tell him, “I’ve got to go.” He walked past the smaller boy, bike in hand. 

“I know you, Enjolras,” Grantaire stopped following the other boy, “I know you’re lonely. I think you need someone to want you. Well, I do want you. So be brave and want me back.” Grantaire was now openly sobbing as Enjolras continued walking, not daring to turn around and look the other boy in the eye. 

After a few more steps he climbed on his bike and rode off, trying to ignore the tears that had started forming in his own eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for those that know the Naomily storyline, there is a famous scene in the next chapter that involves a catflap, and while I've been using some of the dialogue in my chapters, I don't really want to just copy that iconic scene. So, if anyone has any suggestions about how I could change it up a bit, please let me know! I'll update as soon as I can think of a cool alternative.


	6. Student Body President Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who will be president?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a small change in the fic. The third person running for president alongside Enjolras and Cosette is Montparnasse. It was originally an original character, but I just swapped his name out and replaced it w/ Montparnasse, since I kind of wanted to minimize the use of original characters as much as possible. Okay, that's all!

Grantaire didn’t show up for Government or English. It was now lunch and the student body president would be announced next period during the assembly set up specifically for that purpose. Enjolras sat outside the cafeteria, looking over one of the small flyers that Grantaire had made. 

“Hey,” Enjolras turned around to find Combeferre walking over to where he was sitting. 

“Hi,” he offered to his friend, who took the seat next to him. 

“Those came out great. A lot better than the ones we made…,” Combeferre began, but quickly stopped, perhaps realizing that Enjolras was not in the mood to hear about the work put into Cosette’s campaign.

“Thanks. Well, actually, no. I can’t take the credit. Grantaire made them for me. For the campaign, I mean,” Enjolras said, handing it to the boy sitting next to him.

They sat in silence for a while, until Combeferre finally spoke up again. 

“I wanted to apologize for everything. I know we, I, let you down and I’m really sorry for telling you to drop out. I just saw how Courf was getting to you, and well, I thought it was the only way to get him to stop and honestly I’ve just been a really shitty friend…” Combeferre paused, waiting for Enjolras to respond. 

The other boy turned to him and smiled. “It’s okay, honestly. I’m like just happy this whole thing ends today. I was actually going to go to Javert’s right now to officially resign from the race.”

“Why? Everyone already voted, don’t you at least want to see the results?” Combeferre tried to reason with his friend. 

“Not really. Not at all, honestly. I know I’m not going to win, but that’s not why. It’s just…like even if I did win, I wouldn’t want to be president. I only ran to spite all of you and honestly, that’s a pretty terrible reason to do anything. Even if it’s for presidency,” he smiled slightly before continuing, “plus, I was an asshole to the one person who actually helped me during this whole thing and now he’s not here today. It just doesn’t feel right.” He stood up and Combeferre did the same. 

“Okay, if you say so. I’m just glad you’re not doing it because of us. Are we…good?” Combeferre asked hesitantly. 

“Of course,” Enjolras placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder before continuing, “I’ll see you at the assembly.” 

Enjolras knocked on Javert’s door before walking inside. The classroom was empty. He thought he heard a small noise coming from the closet but disregarded it. After realizing that he was probably too late and that the votes had already been counted, he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. 

At that moment, Cosette tentatively opened the closet door, leading Marius out as well. The two shared a laugh before they started kissing, obviously having been interrupted by Enjolras’ sudden appearance. 

The two made it all the way towards Javert’s desk, before they heard the door turning once again. 

“Go!” Cosette whispered to Marius, motioning towards the closet door with one hand, and pushing him off of her with the other. 

The boy followed her command and retreated back to the safety of the closet. Cosette herself did not have time to rush across the room and instead sought refuge under Javert’s desk. 

“I don’t understand what you want to do,” it was Mr. Javert’s voice. 

“It’s very simple, really. In this box, we will have all the ballots for Cosette; in this one all the ballots for Montparnasse, and in this one,” Principal Valjean lifted up the trashcan next to the desk, “will go all the ballots for Enjolras.”  
Mr. Javert’s eyes widened, before he began, “Jean, I’m a Government teacher for Christ’s sake. This goes against everything I believe…,” he was quickly cut off by Valjean. 

“Don’t you have a career evaluation with me coming up?” Valjean spat out, narrowing his eyes at the Government teacher. 

“Right. All the ballots for Enjolras in that box,” he quickly said, pointing at the trashcan. 

The two spent the next few minutes taking the ballots that had already been counted and sorting them into their specified locations. When their deed was done, the two took the three boxes – not the trashcan – and headed towards the auditorium for the assembly.

With the men finally gone, Cosette emerged from her hiding spot. She looked down at the trashcan next to her and saw all the ballots that had been discarded. She walked over to the closet. 

“What was that about?” Marius asked her. 

“I think I just won,” Cosette responded, no enthusiasm in her voice. 

“Great. Let’s celebrate,” Marius moved towards the blonde girl. 

“No look,” Cosette pushed him away and lifted the trashcan towards the other boy. 

“I…don’t understand,” Marius answered confusedly, going through the ballots in the trashcan. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Cosette commanded, “bring the trashcan.”

Enjolras sat down on stage next to Montparnasse, Cosette was conspicuously absent. He had decided to just let the results be known. It wasn’t like he was going to win anyways, he thought. 

Principal Valjean moved up to the podium, to address the student body. 

“Today was a historic day. Today democracy was made. It was made by all of you. You let your voices be heard and decided who you wanted to lead you. After tallying up the ballots,” Valjean pointed to the three boxes on the table, “you voted for Cosette Tholomyes as your student body president!” The crowd of students began to cheer and Enjolras forced himself to clap at the announcement. 

At that moment, Cosette and Marius rushed into the auditorium and made their way towards the stage. Cosette headed directly for the table, to the shock of Principal Valjean. She emptied out each box, revealing one to be completely empty – the box labeled “Enjolras.” Marius then dumped the contents of the trashcan on the stage, as Cosette took the microphone from a shocked Valjean. 

“I think there’s been a mistake in the tallying,” she moved towards the mess on the floor and picked up ballot after ballot, reading each one. At that point, Valjean took the microphone from her, holding it in his hand and away from his mouth as he looked down at the student. 

“Stop this, right now. Accept your victory,” his voice was furious. She proceeded to grab the microphone from him. 

“What victory? Judging from these uncounted ballots, it’s obvious that I’m not the winner. Enjolras is. Sorry to disappoint you, dad,” Cosette dropped the microphone on the floor as the students in the audience gasped. Marius, himself, fainted at the revelation. 

Valjean stormed out of the auditorium at this point, and Enjolras walked forward, grabbing the microphone off the floor. 

“Right. Well, my first official act as president will be to give my resignation. Looks like your class president is none other than the honorable Montparnasse,” Enjolras declared, turning to smile at Cosette. 

At this announcement, most of the students in the audience began to pelt the new class president with paper balls and a general anarchy descended over the room. Enjolras jumped off the stage to catch up to Cosette.

“Hey,” he called out to her. She turned around away from Marius, who was still recovering. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I was not going to win like that, Enjolras,” she responded.

“Why not? No one would’ve known.” He sounded surprised. 

“I would have,” she answered back, crossing her arms at the boy, “look, I know we don’t really know each other that well and I know you might have mixed feelings about me since I ran against you, but I want you to know that I’m not that kind of a person. I wanted to win this thing fair and square.”

“I can see why everyone likes you,” he said fondly, smiling. 

“Aw, does that mean we’re friends now?” Cosette smiled back. 

“I guess so,” Enjolras responded before adding, “Marius is a very lucky boy.”

“I know,” Cosette said smugly before placing a kiss on Enjolras’ cheek and walking off to talk to one of her friends. 

“She’s great, huh?” Marius called out to Enjolras, finally able to stand up. 

“Yeah, and I’ll repeat it in case you didn’t hear. You’re a very lucky boy,” he replied. 

Marius laughed at this before beginning, “Hey, um, I know this doesn’t really matter anymore since you resigned and stuff, but we all voted for you. The guys I mean. We all knew you were the right man for the job.”

Enjolras turned to look at the other boy before answering, “Thanks, that means a lot.” He smiled. Marius placed his hand on Enjolras’ shoulder, squeezing it.

“Just don’t tell Cosette,” Marius practically whispered, before walking off to join his girlfriend. 

When Enjolras turned away his eyes briefly met with Grantaire’s, who was standing on the opposite end of the auditorium. He didn’t know the boy had even been in the audience. It was a very brief moment; however, as the boy quickly walked away with Eponine at his side. 

Enjolras sat in the kitchen, his phone on the table, with his fingers hovering over “Grantaire” on his contact list. He didn’t notice his stepfather standing at the doorway. 

“How was the election?” His stepfather’s voice jolted his attention away from his phone. 

“I won. Then I resigned,” he answered. He hoped his lack of detail would deter his stepfather from pressing the issue. 

The man gave the boy a puzzled look before taking a seat at the table.

“Should I even ask?” He finally spoke up. 

“I ran for all the wrong reasons. I almost lost my friends in the process and I think I lost someone for good,” he wasn’t sure why he was being so open to his stepfather of all people, but Enjolras needed to get this out somehow. “I just didn’t feel like being president after all that,” he finally finished. 

His stepfather could see the hurt in the boy’s eyes. He contemplated what to do momentarily, before beginning, “did I ever tell you what the last thing your mother said to me was?” 

Enjolras looked up, taken aback at the mention of his mother. He shook his head, allowing his stepfather to continue. 

“She said that you could be stubborn, cruel, and just downright mean at times… I think she was trying to warn me,” he paused momentarily to laugh lightly before continuing, “but she also said you always did the right thing. She said you were the best thing to ever happen to her. Your mother was so proud of you, Enjolras.”

“She said all that,” Enjolras asked, his voice shaky. He was trying not to cry. 

“Yes. You made her life complete. You made her happy,” he paused before continuing, “I felt like that about her. She was the greatest thing to ever happen to me, she made my life complete and she made me the happiest man in the world,” he paused once more, to look Enjolras in the eyes, “so, when you find someone that does that for you, you’ve got to cherish it. You don’t know how long you have…,” this time he stopped to rub his eye. 

“Daddy!” Patria shouted from the other room. 

“Right. Well we’ve got some girl scout cookies to go sell,” the man said as he stood up. Before leaving, he stopped at the doorway one last time to say, “I’m proud of you too, Enjolras.”

The blonde boy looked up at his stepfather and smiled. The man smiled back before walking off, taking Patria with him as they headed out the front door.

He sat for a few more moments, looking down at his phone. He then shoved it in his pocket, stood up and headed out the same door.

Enjolras rang the doorbell but got no response. He walked over to the back of the house, where Grantaire’s bedroom window faced. The boy bent down to pick up a small rock and threw it against the glass. He threw one more, before the window finally opened. 

“I’m not going down,” Grantaire’s voice was hoarse. He wasn’t visible from where Enjolras was standing. 

“I’m not leaving,” Enjolras responded. If he won’t come down, he thought, then I’ll just have to go up. The blonde boy looked for a way to scale the two story house. 

He climbed up the rain gutter until he reached the top of the window on the first floor. Enjolras then pushed himself up, to get as much of his feet as possible on the window’s head. Finally, after steadying himself on the precarious position, he extended his arms to catch the stool of Grantaire’s window. From here he jumped up, using his arms to grab into the other boy’s bedroom before finally rolling in rather ungracefully.

When he finally stood back up, breathing heavily, he looked around the darkened room and saw a shadowy figure a few feet from him. It was Grantaire and he was wearing a hoodie to conceal his face even more. He could hear him sniffling. 

“I’m not going to turn on the light. My face is all puffy. I’ve been crying a bit,” Grantaire finally said. 

“I don’t care,” Enjolras interrupted the other boy, “like I said, I’m not leaving.” He sat down on the floor, against the side of Grantaire’s bed. 

The other boy eyed his action with uncertainty before taking his lead and sitting on the floor against the opposite side of the bed. 

“I do want someone, need someone. You were right,” Enjolras finally spoke again, his voice broken, and he too had begun sniffling. 

Grantaire let a breath escape his mouth before responding, “and?” His voice was still hoarse. 

“And…when I’m with you I feel like I’m a better person. I feel happier, less alone. Less lonely,” Enjolras could feel the tears at the corners of his eyes. His voice was breaking and each pause was accompanied by a sniff. 

Grantaire smiled slightly at this, before turning his head to look at the other boy and extending his arm across the bed that separated the two. Enjolras took his hand, rubbing his thumb over it. 

Enjolras inhaled deeply, resembling almost a subdued sob, before continuing, “but it’s not as simple as that, is it? Being with someone.” 

“Isn’t it?” Grantaire answered his question with another. 

“No. I mean, I don’t know. I mean I don’t think so,” Enjolras paused to let a sob escape his mouth. “I mean, can’t we just sit like this…for a bit?” He tried to keep his voice composed, but the crying prevented this. Tears now streamed freely down his face. He then placed his other hand around Grantaire’s as well, cupping it between the two. 

“Yeah. We can, for a bit,” Grantaire finally answered him, his raspy voice tearing through the silence of the room. 

So the two sat there, hand in hand against opposite sides of Grantaire’s bed, for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks guys for continuing to read to this! I'm working on the next chapter right now, since I am on break from school. Um, I hope you like this and if there are any errors please let me know! Once again, thanks so much for all the feedback - I appreciate it, so much!


	7. Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grantaire wants to make their relationship public.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the newest chapter, I'm probably going to update again tomorrow since the next chapter is very closely tied with this one. Anyways, hope you enjoy and if there are any mistakes please let me know! Thanks guys for continuing to read this and stuff you're all the greatest :)

Grantaire was practically skipping down the street; the young cynic now had something, or better yet, someone to believe in. He rounded the corner to the street of the Thénardiers’ residence. 

It had been several weeks since his and Enjolras’ encounter that one night where the blonde boy had finally admitted his own feelings for Grantaire. The two had kept their relationship a secret up until then, but today, Grantaire decided that enough was enough. He wanted Eponine to know.

The two best friends had spent less and less time together for a couple of months now, with Eponine busy with her relationship with Courfeyrac and Grantaire in the same situation with Enjolras. He reached the house and knocked on the door – the doorbell had not worked since Grantaire first became friends with Eponine. 

“Grantaire!” It was Gavroche, Eponine’s kid brother. “Where have you been? Azelma was asking for you the other day,” Gavroche continued, raising both his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Grantaire smiled at this before he saw the young girl approach and grab the smaller boy by the ear, quite roughly, with a, “shut up, you little turd.” He had missed the Thénardiers’ household. 

“Um, is Eponine home?” Grantaire finally asked. 

“Yeah, she’s in her room,” Azelma stepped aside to allow Grantaire to walk in.

“Eponine! Grantaire’s here!” Azelma shouted up the stairs, an act that Grantaire thought was completely unnecessary. The girl then walked off, returning to her spot on the living room couch. Gavroche followed her and from the corner of his eye Grantaire could see the two engaged in a struggle for the television remote. 

Grantaire didn’t even knock on the door; he had already seen Eponine in all sorts of compromising positions. When he walked in, he found her lying on the bed, under the covers watching a Lifetime movie. That was the first sign something was wrong. 

“What do you want?” Eponine snapped, her eyes not leaving the television screen. Yup, something was definitely wrong. 

“Ep, what happened?” Grantaire was never one for subtlety. He closed the door behind him and took a seat next to the girl on the bed.

“Nothing. Everything’s just peachy,” her words got less hostile, replaced with hurt. Grantaire didn’t like this. Eponine only acted like this before when Marius had been particularly oblivious to a pass made by her. Then he remembered. 

“Did something happen with you and Courfeyrac?” Grantaire saw no use in dragging the conversation out when he felt he knew the cause of his friend’s current sullen state. 

“No. Nothing happened. Nothing at all…,” Eponine stopped and began to cry. Grantaire wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but he did what he had done countless times before and grabbed his friend, cradling her in his arms as she sobbed into him. 

“It’s okay Ep,” he said, rubbing her back. She had begun to compose herself, sitting back up next to Grantaire. 

“I asked him if he wanted to go with me to spring formal, you know, since it’s in a couple weeks and he just looked at me like I was crazy,” she stopped to rub her arm across her eyes. “He told me he didn’t want to give me the wrong idea and said that maybe we should stop meeting up to fuck because apparently that’s all he saw this as,” Eponine had started crying again, though not as heavily as before. Grantaire pulled her into another embrace.

“I know this is a pretty cliché thing to say, but he obviously doesn’t know what he’s missing, Ep. You’re a great girl and honestly anyone, _anyone_ , would be lucky to have you,” he smiled down at Eponine. She looked up and the two stared at each other for a few moments. Then Eponine leaned forward, closing her eyes in the process, and kissed him. 

It was a very chaste kiss, but when Eponine reopened her eyes she found Grantaire with a wide-eyed expression on his face. 

“Oh,” she began, “I thought…,” she looked down, “I’m sorry I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“No, this is not your fault at all,” he wasn’t sure how to even put this into words, “um, well it’s not anyone’s fault. I mean well what I’m trying to say is that um…,” Eponine interrupted him.

“What?” She had a very intense look in her eyes that caused Grantaire to look away.

“I’m gay,” he finally choked out. 

“Wait what,” Eponine began, “since when?” She repositioned herself on the bed to sit on top of her right leg. 

“Since forever,” Grantaire responded, finally looking up to look his friend in the face. Her response wasn’t negative in anyway, she looked intrigued more than anything.

“No, obviously, but did you just come to terms with it, did you meet someone, like why am I barely finding this out now. I’m supposed to be your best friend you little shit,” Eponine was smiling. Grantaire finally felt at ease. 

“Well, actually. I did meet someone,” Grantaire couldn’t help smiling. Eponine smacked him on the shoulder.

“What the fuck. Why am I barely finding out you asshole!” She wasn’t angry however. 

“Hey, this is a secret!” Grantaire began, “but I needed to tell somebody, you know I’m terrible at keeping secrets.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Eponine thought back to all the times that Grantaire had almost accidentally spilled the beans to Marius, “so who is this mystery boy?”

Grantaire thought about it for a second before beginning, “you can’t tell anyone, okay? Like he very much wants to keep a lid on this, alright?” 

“Yes, yes, of course. Who is it?” Eponine was anxious. 

“Enjolras,” Grantaire looked at his friend to gauge her reaction. The look she gave him was almost comical. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock. 

“Goldilocks?” She started to say, “Oh my God, Grantaire how did you? I mean, do you know how lucky you are? He’s like really fucking hot. Do you know how many girls like want a piece of that? How did you even?” 

“Wow thanks, asshole,” Grantaire stated. 

“No, okay like you’re cute don’t get me wrong. Adorable even, but Enjolras, you know, you’ve seen him. You’ve obviously seen him,” she said, raising her eyebrows in the same manner Gavroche had earlier, and with a tone that made Grantaire smirk. 

“Yes, well we’re going out,” Grantaire loved the fact that he could say it out loud to somebody else and relished in the feeling for a moment before continuing, “remember, this is a secret, Ep.”

“Yes, you said that already. Now, tell me everything and don’t fucking leave anything out,” Eponine turned off the television and positioned herself to face Grantaire. 

The two talked for hours about everything and by the time Grantaire left later that evening, they had completely caught up. He headed back home and this time there was no denying it, he was skipping.

It was Friday and the school day was almost over. Grantaire sat in Pre-Cal waiting for the bell to ring and release him for the weekend. Eponine worked on Fridays so he’d be walking home alone. The bell rang and Grantaire was the first one out of the classroom, having sat next to the door for that very reason. He wasted no time in exiting the building itself before stopping when he heard a voice calling him over. 

“Hey,” Enjolras called out, standing against the wall of the school. 

Grantaire smiled at the boy and walked over to him, leaning against the wall and standing next to him as well. “Hi.”

“How was class?” Enjolras was making small talk while the two boys waited for their classmates to disperse.

“Boring, same as always,” the black haired boy responded. “I was counting down the minutes during Pre-Cal.”

“Oh. Why is that?” Enjolras asked, smirk on his face. He obviously knew the answer but liked hearing Grantaire tell him anyways. 

Grantaire licked his lips before beginning, “I was hard pretty much all day thinking about you,” he paused, “thinking about what I wanted to do to you,” he paused again to clear his throat, “what I wanted you to do to me.” 

Enjolras raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “And what’s that?” He scooted a little closer to the other boy, the school grounds now pretty much empty. 

Grantaire took that as an invitation to lean in and whisper into the blonde boy’s ear. “I want to suck you off, get your dick wet,” he swallowed before continuing, “and ready for you to fuck me.” He leaned back, flashing the other boy an innocent smile as he rested himself back against the wall. 

Enjolras turned himself to face Grantaire, leaning his side against the wall to say, “if you keep talking like that, I’m just going to have to fuck you up against this wall.” His gaze was intense as he stared down the shorter boy, whose gaze was just as concentrated. 

“Do it,” Grantaire taunted. 

“You think I wouldn’t?” Enjolras asked. 

“I know you wouldn’t,” Grantaire’s tone indicated that he was no longer playing this game. 

Enjolras partly rolled his eyes before uttering, “Grantaire,” under his breath.

“Why don’t we go watch a movie or something? Or go eat somewhere,” Grantaire stopped when he saw the blonde boy move himself off from against the wall. “Enjolras,” he called before the other boy interrupted him. 

“I think I’m going with my grandparents for the summer,” Enjolras said as he turned around to face the other boy. 

“Oh,” Grantaire said, with an irritated tone. 

“Yeah, they like to vacation. Europe, the Caribbean perhaps,” he stopped to run a hand through his hair, “I just need some time to spend by myself, do some thinking by,” he cleared his throat, “myself.” 

“About what?” Grantaire asked, no longer irritated but mostly disappointed. 

“Let’s just be friends, ok,” Enjolras responded. 

“We say that, don’t we?” Hurt evident in Grantaire’s tone and expression. 

“Yeah,” Enjolras replied, “have a good summer,” he followed up with a small smile before walking off. 

“I’ll miss you,” Grantaire called out, unsure of what Enjolras’ response would be. 

The blonde boy stopped in his tracks. He lowered his head and let out a sigh, shaking his head. He turned around and walked over to Grantaire, his face almost devoid of any discernible expression.

Enjolras slammed the smaller boy up against the wall, devouring his mouth in the process. 

“I can’t stand it,” Enjolras cried out during the kiss, “I can’t,” he repeated during another lull. 

“It’s okay,” Grantaire breathed out into Enjolras’ mouth. “It’s okay.”

The smaller boy put his arms around the blonde’s neck, as the two lost themselves in the kiss. “Jesus,” Enjolras finally called out as the two rested their foreheads on one another. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Enjolras demanded, once his breathing had returned to normal. He grabbed the other boy’s hand and led him away.

***

“You alright?” Grantaire had his head resting on Enjolras’ chest, as his fingers traced down the blonde boy’s stomach. 

“Yeah,” Enjolras responded, his own fingers messing with the black curls on Grantaire’s head. 

“What about your stepdad?” Grantaire asked, looking up at the other boy. 

“He’s not here. Plus, this is my room. No one’s allowed in here,” he responded, giving the other boy a smile. 

“But if he came in here right now, would he be shocked at what he’d find?” Grantaire asked him. 

“I think if anyone came in here, they’d be pretty shocked,” Enjolras responded, with a snort. 

“You know what I mean, though,” Grantaire looked back up at the blonde boy.

“Yeah, I mean wouldn’t your parents be?” Enjolras gave the other boy a look of uncertainty. 

Grantaire looked away from him before beginning, “Enjolras, I want to tell people.”

“That you’re gay?” Enjolras offered. 

“I want to tell people about us,” Grantaire corrected him, looking back up at him in the process. When Enjolras didn’t meet his gaze, Grantaire continued, “go to the spring formal with me, like we’re together.” 

Enjolras sighed before answering, “I don’t want to do that.” 

“Why not?” Grantaire quickly countered.

“R, it’s nobody’s business,” he finally looked the other boy in the eye. 

“Why? Who cares what other people think-” before Grantaire could finish, Enjolras interrupted him.

“Grantaire, I’m not like you. I’m not sure like you are,” Enjolras tried to reason. His explanation was lost on the other boy.

“What aren’t you sure of,” Grantaire’s question dripped with uncertainty. 

“Can’t things ever be complicated?” Enjolras asked. 

“Fine, you like girls too,” Grantaire presented to the other boy. 

“Maybe. Maybe I only like girls, apart from you,” the blonde boy shot back. 

“Well that’s fucking great. You’re so in touch with yourself, aren’t you,” Grantaire pushed himself off of Enjolras and turned over, giving the other boy his back. After a brief moment of silence, he persisted once again, “go to the formal with me.”

When no response came, Grantaire pushed the covers off and got out of bed. Enjolras, upon realizing what the other boy was doing, rolled his eyes saying, “don’t do that.”

“No. You don’t do that. I’m not your fucking experiment,” Grantaire snapped at the other boy, struggling to dress in front of his gaze. “Where are my fucking,” he paused to make an exasperated noise, “my fucking shoes. Oh fuck it, keep them.”

He stood up, grabbed his backpack and placed a red hat on his head before beginning again, “I’m tired, Enjolras. I’m so sick and tired of this hot and cold shit,” he paused to look at the other boy. When the other boy didn’t look him in the eye, Grantaire shrugged, “we’re still holding hands in the dark, aren’t we?” Again, Enjolras neglected to look him in the eye. 

“Have fun in Europe,” Grantaire finally said, with a sigh. He turned around, and walked out the room, slamming the door shut. 

When Grantaire got home, his parents weren’t there, unsurprisingly. He walked to his room and got out his phone. He half expected to find a text from Enjolras, but there was nothing. He went to his contacts and selected the first name – Aimee.

Aimee was Grantaire’s aunt. She was his mother’s older and only sister. The two had been estranged ever since Aimee came out as a lesbian when Grantaire was 9 years old. It was that very fact that drove Grantaire to her. He first came out to his aunt, nearly 2 years ago and had kept her updated on his relationship with Enjolras. 

The other thing that drove him to his aunt was the fact that she was a successful artist living in California. To Grantaire, his aunt represented everything he wanted for himself, and the two had already discussed Grantaire moving to California after high school to attend art school. 

“Hello?” Aimee always answered him. 

“Hi,” Grantaire spoke into his phone, voice hoarse from crying. 

“Grantaire, what’s wrong?” The woman asked. 

“You know that guy I’ve been telling you about? Well we got into a fight today,” he answered. 

“What happened?” She sounded very concerned. She always did. 

“I want to tell people about us, but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea,” he paused, “I want to tell my parents I’m gay.”

“Okay, wait a second. You cannot push someone, Grantaire. Remember, everyone has the right to decide when they come out. Look at me; I didn’t do so until I was in my 30s. Sometimes you’ve got to be patient,” she paused before continuing, “as for your parents, I just want you to be careful, sweetheart. Your parents are devout Catholics, I mean your mother only talks to me once a year and that’s only to wish me a happy birthday. I’m not trying to say your parents are bad people, here. I love your mother, and I always will, but she just doesn’t see things the way we do.”

“So, I shouldn’t tell them yet?” Grantaire was a little disappointed at his aunt’s hesitance. 

“I cannot tell you what to do, Grantaire. This is a decision that you and you alone must make – remember this goes for everyone. But like I said, be careful, please. Regardless, I’m always here for you and you know that,” she responded. 

“How’s Tara?” Grantaire asked. Tara was Aimee’s girlfriend of 8 years. Aimee’s relationship with Tara had been her motivation to come out to the family. 

“She actually just stepped out,” Aimee said before continuing, “I’ll let her know you called and that you said hello.”

“Please do,” Grantaire paused, “thanks Aimee. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Let me know whatever you decide to do, and remember, give people time. It’s all we can do. Call me if you need anything.” 

“I always do,” Grantaire laughed, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” she said and hung up. 

Grantaire put his phone on the table in his room and pulled out a sketchbook. He began drawing, talking to Aimee always encouraged him to draw. Before long he realized that he had started a sketch of Enjolras. He put the sketchbook away and plopped down on his bed. Grabbing his phone, his hand hovered over Enjolras’ name on his contact list. He debated whether he should call the boy. Suddenly, however, he felt really tired. It had been a long day.

He woke up several hours later, his room covered in darkness. He checked his phone, it was 11 PM. Wow. I was really tired, he thought. He also saw that he had a text message from Courfeyrac. What. He opened it, it had been sent just 20 minutes ago.

_hey grantarie, were having aparty here at cosettes. u should come, theres a lot of booze and stuff. i miss your little face and plus ur the best drinking partner_

Grantaire wanted to be cold towards the boy. He had fucked up Eponine and had been the reason why Enjolras was so wound up during the election. However, it wasn’t in his nature to be outright mean to someone, especially someone who offered him alcohol. 

He asked him who would be attending and when Courfeyrac mentioned everyone but Enjolras, Grantaire decided he’d go. Grantaire just wanted to get drunk and forget about everything, at least for the night. The boy put on a new shirt and asked for the address. When his phone vibrated again, he grabbed his red hat and walked out the door. 

The bike ride to Cosette’s didn’t take very long, but when he got there he couldn’t believe they lived in the same city. The house was enormous, and situated on a lot that was nicely trimmed and lined with hedged bushes and trees. Damn. How much do principals make exactly, the boy thought to himself. He left his bike against one of the railings of the gate and locked it in place before ringing the doorbell. 

“Grantaire!” It was Courfeyrac who answered the door. The boy pulled Grantaire into an embrace and Grantaire could smell the alcohol on him. He was hoping to smell that way before the night was over. 

“So where’s the alcohol?” Grantaire asked as soon as Courfeyrac withdrew. 

“Ah! I knew I always liked you,” Courfeyrac responded. 

Grantaire looked around the party; there were so many people he didn’t know. He did make out Combeferre several feet away eyeing them both.

“Hey,” Courfeyrac’s voice brought Grantaire’s focus back on him. “So, Enjolras is here. I don’t know why, but when I told him you were coming he told me to tell you to meet him upstairs. He didn’t say why or anything. Are you guys okay? Well, obviously not, right, the guy looked in pretty bad shape.”

This was not what Grantaire was expecting at all. “Enjolras is here?” Was all he could choke out. 

“Yeah, he’s upstairs, third door on the right,” he paused, “he’s been waiting for a while so you might just want to go up there now.”

Grantaire just nodded at the boy before uttering a, “thanks,” and proceeding up the stairs. Third door on the right, he told himself. 

The beat of the music now matched the rhythm his heart was making and Grantaire suddenly found himself really nervous. Damn it, he thought. He was supposed to get wasted and forget about everything tonight, not argue with Enjolras. Then he remembered what Aimee had told him earlier that day. He would hear the other boy out and, if need be, he would be patient. 

He got to the door and contemplated knocking but then again, Grantaire’s not really known for knocking before entering. 

When the door swung open, Grantaire wished he would’ve knocked. He momentarily froze in shock at the scene before him. 

Enjolras was sitting on the edge of the room’s bed, his fly half undone. Just a foot away, a girl with long brown hair was kneeled in front of him. It didn’t take much to put two and two together. He felt the tears forming, and his heartbeat suddenly became even more intense. 

“Grantaire,” Enjolras had turned to look at him. The girl quickly got up from the floor. Before Enjolras could zip up his jeans, Grantaire ran. 

He ran down the stairs and continued running out the door. He got to his bike, unlocked it as quickly as his panicky fingers would allow and rode off. He could feel his phone vibrating but there was no way he was going to answer it. Grantaire kept riding, before he knew it he was outside Eponine’s house. He started to knock; he didn’t even realize that it was nearly midnight before finally stopping. 

“Grantaire!” Eponine appeared at the door, trying her hardest to whisper his name. Her anger quickly subsided when she took a look at the boy in front of her, sobbing. She embraced him, like the many times he’d done to her, and just held him for a minute. 

“Let’s go inside,” she whispered and quietly closed the door behind her.


End file.
